Daily Times

The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) augurs well for the future of democracy in the country. As per the MoU, the judicial commission will investigate the allegations of rigging in the 2013 general elections. The development is no doubt positive. The PTI has been nursing a grievance against the PML-N for delaying the formation of the commission. Finally the matter has been resolved and a consensus reached on the terms and conditions of the commission. The commission will determine whether or not the last general elections truly reflected the will of the people. In case the commission decrees that the election results did not reflect the true mandate of the masses, the National and provincial Assemblies will be dissolved and fresh elections held. On the other hand, if the commission finds the opposite, all of PTI’s allegations over the validity of the elections will stand withdrawn and the party will return to the National Assembly. Imran Khan claims that not a single election has been free of rigging since 1970. His argument does have some validity but he has failed to prove that the last elections were wilfully rigged. He has been levelling generalised allegations but failed to point out a single rigging incident with proper evidence. During the hearing of various elections-related pleas before the election tribunals, only minor flaws and anomalies were found but no proof of any systematic rigging plan was produced. Since entering the arena of politics, Imran Khan has proved overambitious. In pursuance of his desire to become the prime minister of Pakistan, he does not hesitate to go to any extent. Due to his stubborn attitude, he is not ready to accept that the elections were free of any organised rigging plan.

The formation of the judicial commission has provided the PTI some sort of face-saving. The credit goes to the government, which demonstrated political maturity and took an initiative to end the gridlock. Now all the stakeholders must accept the ruling of the commission no matter if it goes in favour of either of the two rival political parties. The PTI must not resort to the politics of protests if the commission’s conclusion negates its claims. The country is not in a position to afford such political polarisation. The PTI should abstain from the politics of agitation forthwith and return to the Assemblies to play its democratic role. And it should first establish its credibility in the eyes of the masses by introducing reforms in the province where it was mandated to bring a positive change. *